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williamnixon
- FB Fan -
Sweden
7 Posts |
 Posted - 09/16/2010 : 21:28:35
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So, I'm totally new to this forum, though I'm a long-time peeper at various topics and news here. To make up for it, I thought I'd contribute and at the same time ask for a favour (kinda).
I'm currently writing a paper leading to a bachelors degree in literature at Jönköping University in Sweden. Boring? Well, to the sound of it. Here's the twist; I'm writing about the imagery of extra terresterial life in science fiction as a metaphor for emotional and societial (?) alienation in correlation to the millenium shift, with focus on the lyrics of Mr. Black from 1990-1999. Narrow, yes, but it totally works... I hope.
So, with this said, I wonder; anyone else who've written/read academic papers or stuff about Frank? I would be thrilled to read up on that.
And also the kinda favour I want to ask; anyone of you guys got any thought on Franks use of ET:s and aliens in his lyrics? I want to exchange some ideas on the topic and want to hear other people who are into FB and his works on this.
Thanks,
Chris
PS. Sorry for the grammar and misspellings, if that stuff bugs yer. |
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jediroller
* Dog in the Sand *
France
1718 Posts |
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williamnixon
- FB Fan -
Sweden
7 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2010 : 00:23:43
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Whoa, that's pure gold for me! Thanks! I went through the usual channels searching for articles and references in books etc., but I totally missed this one. Didn't even think about looking in audio engineering topics. I'll make sure to dig deep into this.
As for the UFO references, I heard something about the encounter, and related i.e. Manta Ray and Le Cigare Volant to this event, but thanks for reassuring me.
I'm not the one to take Franks lyrics "seriously" in the meaning that in the early days, he often scribbled down some words that sounded good and went with that, and also some kind of stream of consciousness/surrealistic writing into it, I think. But I do however take the intepretation of lyrical work kind of seriously, and as some theories of literature states, you can read alot about contemporary society by digging into pop culture. With that in mind, I don't really see the lyrics about UFO:s and aliens and such as literally encounters, as I write and interpret from a certain point of view, but as metaphors of alienation (no real pun intended). I mean that in being alienated from society, from the people you love(d), from yourself, etc., and I think that Frank uses the alien imagery with those two "deeps" in his lyrics, as most sci-fi-authors do.
Anyhoo, it may sound like baloney. Anyone care to correct me, bash me or agree? :)
I'll give an example from Men In Black:
I saw everything /.../
Dinner plate specials
The shapes of cucumber
I'm going to the papers
I am going to sing
/.../
I'm watching my back
I'm waiting my visitation
From the men in black
Are they grey or is it my own nation?
/.../
So just in case
I made you a copy
And I put it in the mail
This song is both about the Men in black as depicted in science fiction; mysterious men in black coats working for the government to cover up traces of alien life on earth and taking care of people who know too much on the subject. It's written from a point of vies of a man who knows just a bit too much and is paranoid, so he tries to make his message go through to anyone at all who listens, before it's too late.
Also, it's about the feeling of being alone with your thoughts, or rather, don't knowing if it's ok to feel or think in a particular way. The Men in black here represents anyone who opposes the "queer" or "strange" in the protagonists worldview, and he's afraid of showing who he really is, ergo feeling alienated from society as he's afraid it won't accept him. The line "are they grey or is it my own nation?" both refer to the "standard grey alien" but "grey" as in "ordinary, won't go beyond mainstream". In desperation, the protagonist tries to reach out to anyone who's willing to listen, and takes the plunge and thus revealing who he is (incognito, as I interpret it, as the "mail"-metaphor suggests that he doesn't want to expose himself but he wants to expose what he thinks and feels).
There. Too long and kinda messy, but it sums up what I write about; the duality of alien imagery in sci-fi, with focus on Franks lyrics. |
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eroticvultcha
- FB Fan -
Ireland
81 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2010 : 04:44:09
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That's a really great interpretation, Chris - on a less profound note, though, I've read in a few different places that this song is about how Mark E. Smith of The Fall is actually an alien beamed to Earth. I like your spin better.
 "I've got my own gas tanks." |
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Brank_Flack
* Dog in the Sand *
Canada
1017 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2010 : 08:16:32
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I like your interpretation!
I would recommend maybe e-mailing the Bureau and seeing if Charles would be interested in doing a phone or e-mail interview with you - it could help your paper, and he might be interested in it. I recall he mentioned in an interview he wanted people to look through and analyze his lyrics, so you never know. |
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BLT
> Teenager of the Year <
South Sandwich Islands
4204 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2010 : 08:32:09
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quote:
Originally posted by eroticvultcha
I've read in a few different places that this song is about how Mark E. Smith of The Fall is actually an alien beamed to Earth. I like your spin better.
You mean he's not??? |
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Skatealex1
* Dog in the Sand *
1670 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2010 : 17:39:29
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| I wote my college paper during my freshman year for the English final on the pixies. I don't remember exactly what I wrote about them in it but I did get an A on the paper so it was probably decent. |
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hammerhands
* Dog in the Sand *
Canada
1594 Posts |
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williamnixon
- FB Fan -
Sweden
7 Posts |
Posted - 09/19/2010 : 02:41:59
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Tbank you so much for all of the response; I appreciate you taking the time to comment on this matter. I will take in consideration all of the things you said (never heard of the Fall-reference before, but that shines a whole new light on the lyrics, which really made me laugh, hehe) and I'm happy to see someone else writing academic about Franks work.
I agree with the fish reference in FB:s lyrics, I too am amused by it, and to a greater extent intruiged. The way that he uses "space" as describing both Outer Space, Inner Space and, more often, the Ocean is interesting, and what the Fish then represent in all of those different spaces. Sometimes I think he's just trying to mess with his audience, in much the same way that Adams did.
I wouldn't mind at all to conduct an interview with Frank about his lyrics, and I'm grateful for the tip, but as to this particular paper, I'm sticking to analysing it in relation to the theories of sci-fi I've been reading up on. Maybe for my bachelors or masters degree, if I decide to take on "what does the author say"-approach to broaden my analysis, I'd reconsider and try to get hold of him... although I'd be hella nervous defending my interpretation of his lyrics to himself, being one of my favourite lyricists of all time. ;) Ehum. Anyhoo, thanks again for the comments, I feel much more secure now that I'm not too far out with my analysis. |
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trobrianders
> Teenager of the Year <
Papua New Guinea
3302 Posts |
Posted - 09/19/2010 : 04:49:58
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Don't want to sound negative but is there really enough in Frank's work to base a worthwhile analysis of extra terresterial life in science fiction as a metaphor for emotional and societial alienation? The topic is great and as worthy as anything else of academic enquiry but wouldn't it be more interesting to the reader if you looked at a broader range of pop cultural reference or at least opposing views? Fandom doesn't go down well in academia. I enjoyed reading your analysis but I am a fan.
Mind you skatealex aced his college paper so I'm probably talking out of my ear. That said there's a lot to dissect in So Hard To Make Things Out that serves your topic. I hope you'll also look at songs like Two Spaces and Pie In The Sky which would allow you to look at the topic from different time frames 1930s-50s and allow you to reference heavyweights like Noel Coward and Cole Porter. Alienation expressed in an undercurrent is often more illuminating than when expressed explicitly.
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Ed is the hoo hoo |
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williamnixon
- FB Fan -
Sweden
7 Posts |
Posted - 09/19/2010 : 06:55:57
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You don't sound at all negative, as I appreciate all forms of critique, and see this as a chance to defend my paper and it's purpose. It is not, as it may has come of as, a way of using FB:s lyrics as a way of prove the theory of alien imagery as social and emotional alienation, but a way of seeing how well FB:s lyrics fit into that theory. The reasons I've narrowed it down to just FB:s lyrics are many; mostly it's because I'm a fan, but also because there's a hole in the whole rock/sci-fi-connection in the 90's. The research regarding sci-fi/music focuses mostly on the rave culture in that decade, so I thought I'd try to fit alternative rock into the grand picture.
I've also included a fairly extensive historical background that gives the "theory of alienation" a broad perspective, but that's not my own work as it's all citations; my own analysis is about how well FB:S lyrics fit with the theory, not to strengthen or prove the theory based on his writings. I wanted to include Two Spaces, but that deals more with the space/ocean-correlation (?) than with the encounter with alien life, but I might include it to further deepen the understanding of Outer & Inner Space. Gah. It's hard enought to write about this in my native toungue. :)
Anyhoo, thanks for the advice! I'll try to steer clear from fandom as well as I can. |
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Academic writings on Frank Black
